Breakfast really is “the best part of waking up.” 😉 Head over to Honest To Nod to read my breakfast post and check out this adorable new cloud pouf while you’re there. The Land of Nod is giving away one of these cloud poufs to a lucky reader. The details on how to enter the giveaway on are on @averyandaugustine on Instagram.

Kids love any excuse to delay bedtime―even just a few minutes―and are probably more eager to get in a little extra reading time if it means they get to stay up later. That few extra minutes of reading right before bed becomes a special time for them to bond with their books and stories, which promotes a love of reading and encourages them to become a lifelong reader.

So, this is the idea—move up your kids’ bedtime by twenty minutes and when they ask to stay up just a little longer, tell them they can read for a little bit using a bedside lamp or reading light. This is part of reading expert Jim Trelease’s tips on how to raise a reader (you can read the rest of his invaluable advice in The Read-Aloud Handbook, a book every family should have in their library).

We’re partnering with Munchkin for a giveaway of 3 of their adorable owl night lights. This giveaway is open to US residents only and the winners will be drawn at random. You have until Thursday, August 11, 11:00 PM PDT, to enter. Head over to this post on Instagram to enter!

Margaret Wise Brown’s works were arranged and performed by singers/songwriters Tom Proutt, Emily Gary and a group of musicians. Amy Gary talked about the story behind Goodnight Songs in an interview on NPR. “I was a young publisher and was looking for things that I could reprint of Margaret's. And I was looking through all of these old books at her sister's home. And her sister said oh yes, there's this wonderful manuscript she was working on, but I've got it in the trunk and her barn. She was living in Vermont at the time. I thought, oh my goodness…I wonder if any of these papers are actually still left.”

“And one of the illustrators set this so beautifully. He said, you know, her writing evokes more images than anyone else's writing can do. She was able to write in a way that really spoke to children and that's why the things she's written have remained in print for so many years.”

From “A Note from the Musicians” at the end of Goodnight Songs: “These unpublished words are so rich in imagery that they invite instrumentation and melodies. Margaret Wise Brown often used simple, spare images that enable a listener to home in on little details—a bell, a bug, a buoy—with an almost meditative focus. ‘The Mouse’s Prayer’ and ‘Sounds in the Night’ evoke stillness and quiet so effectively that readers may well imagine being able to hear the far away sounds mentioned in the poems. But her words also invite us into a a surprising world of wildness, wandering, and risk taking, where monkeys throw coconuts at the sky and baboons and bears take an outlandish trip to the moon in a hot air balloon.”

I absolutely love this Grimm’s wooden alphabet game from The Wooden Wagon. It’s not for only learning letters—kids can use the pieces to make pictures and designs. it’s a winner. We have various Grimm’s toys and adore their timeless design, thoughtful craftsmanship and durability. They’re definitely playthings that you can pass on to the next generation.